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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Wed Aug 10 16:42:03 EDT 2011

denver, Aug. 10, 2011 —The American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society, will unveil a landmark report on creating new jobs and growing the economy Aug. 29 at 9.30 a.m. Mountain Time, (11:30 a.m. Eastern Time) in the ACS Press Center, Room 210-212 of the Colorado Convention Center.

The press conference, a webinar and more than 7,500 reports on discoveries in scientific fields ranging from astronomy to zoology will be held during the ACS’ 242nd National Meeting & Exposition, which will bring almost 10,000 chemical scientists, engineers and others to the Mile High City.

Journalists may register in advance for the press conference and the meeting. Reporters planning to cover the meeting from their home bases can access the press conference over the Internet in ACS’ popular “Live Chat” format. Strictly embargoed copies of the report, Innovation, Chemistry, and Jobs, are available from the ACS Office of Public Affairs. After the embargo, the report will be available online at: www.acs.org/CreatingJobs.

The report details steps to create economic growth, generate revenue, and add new jobs in one of the nation’s most valuable scientific exports: chemistry and the chemical enterprise. The report focuses on entrepreneurship as a pathway to major job creation.

“Building on our unique American penchant for creativity, individual initiative, and innovation, this report will serve as a roadmap to pinpoint what ACS and others must do to create a wave of entrepreneurial activity in the chemical enterprise, one of our nation’s most vital and valuable economic sectors,” said ACS Executive Director and CEO Madeleine Jacobs.

“More than 96 percent of all manufactured goods are touched by the business of chemistry, and we employ more than 800,000 people in industry alone,” said Jacobs. “Furthermore, the chemical industry accounts for more than 10 percent of the U.S.’s total merchandise exports: $145 billion.”

Innovation, Chemistry, and Jobs is the product of an ACS Presidential task force appointed by 2010 ACS President Joseph S. Francisco, Ph.D., William E. Moore Distinguished Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Science and Chemistry, Purdue University. The task force consisted of eminent scientists from industry, academia and government, all with experience in entrepreneurship. The press conference will feature Francisco and several Task Force members:

On Tuesday, Aug. 30, from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m., Mountain Time, Whitesides will moderate a free, webinar presentation, titled: Innovation + Entrepreneurship = Jobs as part of an ACS Virtual Fair. In this webinar, Whitesides and Francisco will discuss key aspects of the report. To participate in this live event, register at: http://acswebinars.org/.